Kensington Market, meanwhile, began almost by accident in the early twentieth century, with homeowners in the area selling their excess garden vegetables from carts and tables in front of their homes. Housewives soon learned that if they travelled to certain streets they would have choice produce on offer, and so the market began to develop like one of its European open-air counterparts, with vendors from many cultural groups — Jewish, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian, Spanish, Portuguese — bringing the world to the customer. Kensington Market is bounded today by Bathurst, College, and Dundas streets and Spadina Avenue, and several of the gateways to the market are marked by towering sculptures, such as the steel creation at Baldwin Street and Spadina Avenue that shows the market icons of bread, meat, and cheese circling the globe.
The Market is Toronto at its best: Ferociously independent, enchantingly eclectic, culturally diverse, touristically tolerant, racially inclusive, class sensitive, ever changing.
Maybe you haven’t checked it out lately, but a “restaurant row” mixes naturally among the cheese mongers, butchers, fruit-and-vegetable vendors and bakers.
Breakfast joints, cafes, take-out shops and sit-down spots serve fresh market fare: French, Ethiopian, Mexican, Persian, Portuguese, Jamaican, West Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Hungarian-Thai, Latin American, Middle Eastern …[11]
In the village of Bytown (now the city of Ottawa), when Lieutenant-Colonel John By laid out a street plan in the 1820s, there was no market building, simply an open area on George Street in Lower Town where farmers sold their vegetables and produce from carts and makeshift stands (similar to Kensington Market). In 1857 the newly renamed Ottawa was chosen by Queen Victoria to become the capital of the Province of Canada (Canada West and East). Ten years later, when the four provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the two Canadas, now renamed Ontario and Quebec, were united as the Dominion of Canada, Ottawa became the new country’s capital.
Since then Ottawa’s ByWard Market has never looked back and has developed into one of the finest markets in Canada. A visit to ByWard is not only a shopping experience but a cultural exchange, because the capital has become the home of so many embassies that a variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, breads, fish, and spices are always in demand. Here, too, the brave gourmand can sample a new pastry confection called a Beavertail, deep-fried and dusted with sugar, or spread with a favourite preserve.
Just as fate affected the ByWard Market in Ottawa, so, too, did it transform the nearby market town of Smiths Falls, sending the annual poultry and turkey fair soaring. During the American Civil War in the early 1860s, a buyer from New York State named W.J. Wright is reputed to have come through. He bought up all the available poultry, driving the birds on foot to Brockville, ferrying them across the St. Lawrence River, and then driving them to the place of slaughter and sale. In 1865, William Keith, publisher of the Review in Smiths Falls, suggested it would be easier to buy the poultry dead in Smiths Falls, then ship them to their destination in the United States in the cool of winter. Specifications pertaining to the fattening, killing, and dressing of the fowl were published, and the poultry fair was held in December at a time of year when the birds could be transported at sufficiently cold temperatures to ensure the quality and safety of the meat. At the first poultry fair some ten tons of fowl were brought in by the area farmers and all were purchased by Wright, beginning an annual turkey-fair tradition every December.[12]
This wide main street in Smiths Falls, Ontario, was the ideal location for the annual turkey fair held in December in the late nineteenth century.
Harold Nichol Collection
To drive the poultry on foot from Smiths Falls to Brockville, onto the ferry, and into the northern American states, it would have been necessary to protect the birds’ feet with a mixture of sand and tar, a practice common in England when it was necessary to move poultry long distances from farms to city markets. This custom began in Saxon times to supply customers with geese for their Michaelmas celebrations at the end of September. Legend tells us that twenty thousand or more geese, their feet treated with tar and sand, were walked by their owners from farms in Norfolk and Lincolnshire to meet their fate in the Nottingham market.
An agricultural crisis transformed the annual poultry fair in Smiths Falls in the 1880s. The area “was visited with a plague of grasshoppers, which ate up almost every green thing on the farms. Someone suggested the breeding of turkeys as a means of exterminating the plague and in the following summer many broods of turkeys were hatched out. The little fellows in turn fell upon grasshoppers, and it was not long before the latter were visibly thinned out.” The large flock of turkeys threatened to glut the Smiths Falls market, but at the annual turkey fair “buyers were on hand from Montreal and two or three American cities.” They bought up all the turkeys at good prices, “one or two carloads of dressed poultry were shipped to New York,” and the following year “the stock of turkeys was largely increased, and so also were the stock[s] of geese, ducks, and hens.”[13]
By 1887 the annual Christmas turkey fair of Smiths Falls, as it came to be called, attracted as many as forty-one registered wholesale buyers, with farmers bringing in turkeys from as far away as Farmersville (later Athens). The event was estimated to be worth some $8,000 in business to town merchants. The turkey fair came to be held on Beckwith Street, with the farmers’ sleighs ranged side by side along the length of the wide thoroughfare. But as the fair grew larger, the sleighs also came to fill the length of Main Street. The care of poultry as a particular responsibility and source of income for farm women was evident in their presence at the turkey fair, pitching the merits of their fowls to buyers. The Rideau Record in December 1887, watching one buyer “hesitating somewhat before taking the lot,” overheard one farm woman “by way of helping him to a decision [say] ‘they’re just as good at the top as they are at the bottom, root ’em over.’”[14]
Many of the surrounding communities in eastern Ontario attempted to host their own poultry fairs and markets. However, none of them could match the “Original and Largest Poultry Market in the Dominion,” as it was proclaimed in the Rideau Record on Christmas Eve in 1887.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, agricultural societies and the fairs they sponsored appeared to be gaining in popularity, a trend that a small sampling from Canada West (Ontario) confirms. In 1855, Markham Village became the home of the famous Markham Fair. Many Markham men had been active in the Home District Agricultural Society for at least twenty-five years. In 1856 a rural fair was held in Unionville; in 1857 an expanded fair was held in Markham, and reported thus: “The day was as pleasant as could be desired and a greater number of respectable persons we have never seen on any similar occasion.” The Markham Band “discoursed sweet music” for the “respectable” visitors. At all events, 1855 is the accepted starting date, and in 1955 the fair celebrated its centennial, proudly calling itself “Canada’s Greatest County Exhibition,” under the auspices of the Markham and East York Agricultural Society. Early records of the society are hazy, but minutes were kept, beginning in 1855, and we have a description of prizes and attendance:
The prize list of 1855 offered for horses, cattle, sheep and swine, prizes of 15s. and 10s.; poultry 5s. and 2s.; cereal grains, 15s. and 10s.; dairy products, 5s. and 2s.; and agricultural implements, 10s. and 5s. There were displays of quilts and ornamental needlework, and a pair of fine boots, pegged, won 2s.6d.
In 1855, it was reported that “many ladies were present, a circumstance that should not be lost sight of, for the presence of the fair sex in a gathering suited and conducted in a manner agreeable to their refined tastes has a decidedly humanizing tendency on the lords of creation.”[15]
In the Haldimand-Norfolk area of today’s Ontario, with fine farmland under cultivation, the traditions of agricultural societies and fairs flourished.
April 19, 1856: Walpole Spring Agricultural Show held in Jarvis. October 4, 1856: Oneida and Caledonia Agricultural Soci
ety Fall Show held at Caledonia. October 8, 1856: Walpole Agricultural Society Fair held at Mr. Graham’s tavern, Stage Road, Walpole.
November 18, 1856: The Caledonia Advertiser reported that competition was stiff at the York Plowing Match for the prizes totalling £8.5s.
April 25, 1857: Haldimand County Agricultural Society held its spring show. October 17, 1857: Agricultural Society of the Upper Part of Haldimand County held a fair in Mount Healy.[16]
We learn from Charles Forbes, a Royal Navy surgeon, that farmers in British Columbia, whether First Nations or newcomers, were part of this growing movement by 1862:
Nowhere does the potato flourish more, or attain a better flavour; it is grown in great quantities by the natives on all parts of the coast. The Hydah [Haida] Indians of Queen Charlotte’s Island hold an annual potato fair, customers reaching them from Fort Simpson on the mainland….
An Agricultural and Horticultural Society has been formed, and was very successfully inaugurated in the autumn of the present year. The first exhibition was held in October, prizes being awarded to the exhibitors of the best horned cattle, sheep, stallions, and brood mares (thoroughbred and for farming purposes) and also for pigs…. Large herds of cattle exist in the mountains in a wild state, having strayed from the different farms and settlements.[17]
In larger communities such as London, Ontario, which inaugurated an agricultural fair in 1861, or Toronto, which held one in 1846, these shows were often called provincial exhibitions or industrial exhibitions, with exhibits featuring “new inventions” of farm machinery and equipment, stoves, iceboxes, kitchen cabinets, and the latest household furnishings and equipment.
The popularity of markets has waxed and waned in Canada over the centuries. By the middle of the nineteenth century in eastern and central Canada, hundreds of communities had established them as a way for their farmers, market gardeners, and fishermen to sell surplus produce, animals, and fish. The fairs also provided local housewives with a means to procure fresh ingredients at modest prices and gave them opportunities to meet, greet, and gossip with their neighbours.
In 1877, Hector Fabre gave a lively description of a market in Quebec City. What follows is his account reprinted in A Taste of History, published by Environment Canada:
At the market, Quebec City, May 20, 1866: Last Saturday, there was a dense crowd at the market in the Upper Town. The sellers could hardly keep up with the buyers. Busy housewives, honest stewards, bargaining over every item; demanding gourmets, rejecting and discrediting the produce, examining the carts from top to bottom to find the gem they were searching for; fathers of families, trailing after them two or three porters; old bachelors, ferreting out the succulent chop for their dinner, meeting, pushing and shoving, filling the market and overflowing from the sidewalks. Almost everyone looked happy and seemed to be smiling in anticipation, thinking of the good dinners they would prepare.[18]
Quebec City is still renowned for its open-air markets, while the rest of the province excels in cottage and farm-gate businesses or produce stands in the country. Loyal city dwellers are willing to drive several miles to buy their favourite loaves of bread, fine maple syrup, and fresh herbs. With close to a thousand apple orchards, Quebec is also famous for its cider-making industry, and if you want either a sparkling cider or a still cider, you must seek out one of these roadside stands.
The Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association (NSFGA) was incorporated in 1864 and staged exhibitions in temporary quarters beside the Kentville Court House until the Halifax Exhibition opened permanent facilities in 1897. In 1874 “the elite and beauty of the Town … were busily examining and admiring the different Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables, arranged on the tables and stands prepared for that purpose.” The display included such cherries as Belle de Choisy, Bigarreau, and Starr’s Prolific. Strawberries were represented in dishes of Triomphe de Gana, Jucunda, and Wilson’s Albany. Currants were “shown in great perfection.”
Apples were not shown until the September Exhibition at Wolfville, with many varieties of plums, pears, apples, and crabs. The association’s broad interests were further reflected in the inclusion of peaches, grapes, and flowers, as well as “Sewing Machines and Musical Instruments, etc.”[19]
These agricultural societies and the fairs and markets they hosted may be among the oldest continuing organizations in Canada, and we know that they had a profound effect on our food traditions. Their primary goal was to encourage agricultural progress by acquiring and maintaining higher-quality livestock, crops, fruits, and vegetables; purchasing books and making them available to the public; and holding agricultural fairs. Long before provincial ministries of agriculture were established in Canada, the agricultural societies were promoting livestock-breeding practices, dairymen’s and fruit-growers’ organizations, plowing matches, regional fairs, and many other activities.
The fairs were, and are, a combination of educational exhibits, competition, displays, livestock shows, horseracing, plowing matches, parades, band concerts, and stage shows. After Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, and spurred by the introduction of carnivals and midways, these additional features began spreading across Canada, and so began a tug-of-war between education and entertainment.
One aspect of the fairs that has remained constant is the competition that involves food preparation and presentation, and the ribbons awarded to the winners. Best of the Fairs, containing prize-winning recipes from Canadian fairs, was published in 1968 by the Canadian Association of Exhibitions and Robin Hood Multifoods. The book gives us some tips on what the judges were, and are, looking for when awarding marks (maximum one hundred) and ribbons: external appearance, internal appearance, texture, flavour, shape, colour, crust (for bread), size, thickness (for cookies), filling (for pies and tarts), container, seal and label (for preserves).[20]
Many agricultural societies and/or fairs published their own cookbooks. Just one example is Sharing Treasured Recipes, a centennial project of the Ladies’ Division of the Norwood, Ontario, Agricultural Fair, 1878–1978. It contains thirty-nine pages of recipes, some of them historic:
YE OLD CURRANT SAUCE FOR VENISON
Boil an ounce of dried currants in half a pint of water a few minutes; then add a small teacupful of breadcrumbs, 6 cloves, a glass of port wine and a bit of butter. Stir until the whole is smooth. 1836. Donalda Williamson[21]
A logical outcome of the success of the spring and fall fairs in rural Canada was the introduction of rural school fairs. In 1909 the Ontario Department of Agriculture launched this new and ambitious program of fairs to be held annually throughout the province. The rural school fairs became very popular, for they were free, they were held on a school day, and they were enthusiastically endorsed and supported by adult organizations and institutions — the Agricultural Societies, Women’s Institutes, and Farmers’ Institutes.
As Canadian communities and shoppers have become more culturally diverse, local vendors and markets have offered increasingly exotic ingredients to tempt buyers.
The class that girls were particularly encouraged to enter was, of course, called “Cooking.” On the prize lists, recipes were often given for such favourites as Baked Custard, Date Loaf, Chocolate Layer Cake, Cup Cakes, Apple Pie, or School Fair Cookies.[22]
New Canadians have maintained their love affair with rural fairs for hundreds of years. However, in the twenty-first century roles are changing, and so are the classes and entries exhibited. Mark Kearney, in his article “Everyone Can Win a Ribbon … in the Right Category,” points out that when he competed at the Western Fair in London, Ontario, in 2005 in the category “Anything Baked by a Man,” he “lost to a guy from Bundaberg, Australia,” despite the brandy with which he laced his pumpkin pie.[23]
So, we as Canadians are now taking on the world in preserving a tradition started by our First Nations.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Bountiful Harvest with Which Canada Has Been Blessed
FOR THOUSANDS OF YE
ARS, THE FIRST NATIONS have recognized and celebrated the changing seasons, harvests, and the gifts of food from the Great Spirit. The First Nations did not have a calendar for their customs, ceremonies, and celebrations but were guided by the sun and moon in the cycle of the seasons and the cycle of life.
As newcomers arrived, bringing with them their memories of celebrations in their homelands, they often found that their neighbours were celebrating on different days and in very different ways. Within each community, there could be differing cultural traditions, events to be remembered, and times of cleansing or renewal marked by the calendar. There were goals achieved, victories won, times of rejoicing, sorrow, or thanksgiving, which the community or cultural group recognized with food and fellowship. These were not just reunions or old habits transported to a new land, but a recognition that it was, and is, important to remember and to celebrate with family, friends, and food the small, everyday pleasures as well as the large, momentous events that affect our lives.
For the newcomers, New Year’s Day, January 1 by the Gregorian calendar, was — and, of course, still is — a time to celebrate the blessings of the past year, to make resolutions about good behaviour for the months ahead, and for family and friends to gather together. Foods and traditions have varied across Canada. However, French, English and Scottish gentlemen observed the well-known custom of paying New Year’s calls on the ladies in the community, where wine and cake was laid out for the visitors, or sometimes sherry and Christmas cake.
Canadians at Table: Food, Fellowship, and Folklore Page 18